Palin: Time to give Romney a shot

posted at 12:41 pm on August 27, 2012 by Ed Morrissey

This is one clip it pays to watch to the very end. Sarah Palin appeared on Fox Saturday evening to talk about the Tea Party and challenge the Republican Party to stick to its platform ideals, warning at one point that the GOP could go the way of the Whigs if they don’t respond to the will of the voters. She also took questions from Twitter, including one which asked whether she’d run for Governor in Alaska again. (Answer: She’d rather work on policy to unlock Alaska’s natural resources.) But it’s near the seven-minute mark when Palin expresses frustration when a viewer asks if it isn’t better not to vote when one doesn’t like either candidate (via the Sarah Palin Journal):

PALIN: No no no no! Please go vote! Let me ask you — man, do me a favor. If this go-around you don’t know who you dislike more or like more, Romney or Obama — this go-around, give Romney a shot. We don’t want to repeat the failed policies of President Obama. That’s insanity, to repeat the same failures over and over again and expect a different result. Obama has proven himself that he doesn’t get it, he doesn’t get the free market, he doesn’t get American exceptionalism, and he won’t work toward that American exceptionalism. He had his chance — no hard feelings, thank you for your service, Mr. Obama. This go-around, though, let’s give Romney that chance.

This is an excellent answer for those Romney skeptics who still believe that sitting out the presidential race will work out as a positive action. Like most general elections, this race is a binary choice rather than a wish-list selection. The two men who can win this race are Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. Any potential Romney voters that don’t cast a vote strengthen Obama’s chances for re-election. That is why Obama has spent the summer trying to toxify Romney with independents and conservatives — in order to depress turnout on the Right. After the conventions are over, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Team Obama start raising Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson’s profile as another distraction on the Right, especially if Romney gets a big polling boost out of the next fortnight.

Palin obviously isn’t passionate about Mitt Romney as a GOP nominee, which surprises no one. But she does see the practical issue of the election in clear precision.

Blowback

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Yeah but according to you Ryan’s a RINO so what do you expect? /
One would think you’d expect more from your puritanical icon but you just point out other bad behavior as a defense. Shallow.
TruCons exist only in your mind.

To all the Sarah haters/mittbot’s who think we are robots and follow everything she says. Well, I’m Sarah’s biggest supporter and disagree with her, I could never vote for romneycare, he’s too liberal. I’ll leave the presidential vote blank.

Danielvito on August 27, 2012 at 5:50 PM

King Obama thanks you for your vote. And should the King win this election, you relinquish all of your rights to bash him for the next 4 years.

You are trying to tie me to Obama when you have not a single tiny little itty bitty bit of evidence.

astonerii on August 27, 2012 at 2:20 PM

No evidence?

I will actively vote Obama and get my family to join me if the nominee is Romney. While it would be nice to get a better job between 2013 and 2017, I am willing to wait.
astonerii on January 30, 2012 at 2:52 PM

as most rational people would need to see a helluva lot of proof about such a remark about the POTUS before they would even consider believing it.

lynncgb on August 27, 2012 at 1:49 PM

If anyone needs anymore proof than already exists, then they are almost beyond hope. Many voters have their heads in the sand and believe what they want, regardless of facts. They think the “enemy” is overseas somewhere. The Uniformed and takers are our Country’s biggest problem.

For whatever reason, you’re arguing a against a point I was never trying to make.

My point was never a Ryan vs Palin on TARP (they both supported it) it was that Palin is a hypocrite for presenting herself as some sort of pure conservative. If Ryan went around the country blasting “RINOs” and designating himself the “Tea Party Prince”, I’d be saying the same thing.

King Obama thanks you for your vote. And should the King win this election, you relinquish all of your rights to bash him for the next 4 years.

JPeterman on August 27, 2012 at 6:05 PM

Sorry Daniel – I’m as big a Palin supporter as anyone, but sitting this one out is NOT an option – sitting it out mathematically equals 1/2 of a vote for Obama, as you have forfeited your right to vote against him. Sorry, it’s not an option for me, nor for Sarah Palin, as she has so cogently indicated.

If Ryan went around the country blasting “RINOs” and designating himself the “Tea Party Prince”, I’d be saying the same thing.

BradTank on August 27, 2012 at 6:28 PM

You can say the same thing because in actual reality Palin hasn’t done what you are claiming she has done.

She has been asked in TV interviews repeatedly over the last couple of years about being “a” or “the” Tea Party “leader”, and each and every time I have seen her answer that she is not seeking to be a leader of the Tea Party, only a prominent supporter, motivator and defender of the Tea Party movement.

My point was never a Ryan vs Palin on TARP (they both supported it) it was that Palin is a hypocrite for presenting herself as some sort of pure conservative. If Ryan went around the country blasting “RINOs” and designating himself the “Tea Party Prince”, I’d be saying the same thing.

BradTank on August 27, 2012 at 6:28 PM

The only reason Palin supported Tarp was because of John McCain as his VP pick. on the other hand Ryan supported Tarp because he believed in it. just like Ryan’s budget plan was scuttled because it interfered with Romney’s position, Palin supported Tarp because of McCain.

America’s favorite Mama Grizzly isn’t at all pleased with those who aren’t willing to stand up for their country on election day to defeat Obama by electing Mitt Romney, the man who will repeal Obamacare.

We stand proudly with Romney/Ryan, Sarah Palin, Ed Morrissey and patriots everywhere in the campaign to remove Obama from office.

So you romneycare supporters before you judge me for not voting for either liberal, ask yourselves why YOU support the above record

Danielvito on August 27, 2012 at 7:18 PM

We all know you’re nothing but an Obama supporter pretending to be a conservative, trying to discourage people from voting for and telling lies about Mitt, the man who will take us out of this Obama nightmare presidency.

That has been obvious for a long time. Looks like you and the other Dem plants are getting more desperate and shrill in recent days. Things aren’t looking so hot for your guy Obama, are they?

Sure have. And until Romney became a viable candidate on the Republican party ticket for President, I have been a very rock solid vote for the Republican Party. Voted for Bush I, Voted for Perot, Voted for Dole, Voted For Bush II part a and Voted for Bush II b, although I was getting a bit less than enthused for him… I would have Voted for McCain, well actually for Palin, but then he pushed TARP through and that pretty much stopped his chances for getting my vote. I even vote in primaries and off year elections, even those annual local only ones.

The party was moving the nation to the right, starting with Reagan, who i admire very much, but certainly do not see as a deity. Bush I screwed his chances up with the Read my lips promise that was later vacated in a manner much like Obama’s promises the people liked, he deserved to lose. I watched and supported Gingrich back when he was speaker, and I enjoyed his rolling back of the welfare state. I voted straight party ticket for Bush II both times, even though I was very unhappy with how he was pushing progressive policy, the alternative at the time seemed to be worse than the alternative. Imagine the housing crisis happening on John Kerry’s watch instead of Bush’s, think about it…

The TARP vote pretty much took the wind out of my sails though. The party no longer had any principles. I held out hope Palin might be the nominee this run around, but she never entered. Then I hoped the party would pick a welfare cutting veteran with Newt, but that did not happen either. Instead, they hammered him like no other. Then I came to realize what was really going on. The reason Newt got sanctioned in the House was because he broke the cardinal rule, do not stop the growth of the federal behemoth. Seriously, go back and look over the results of the witch hunt started by a democrat and carried over the finish line by the republican established big government lovers. Even supposed movement conservative big dogs, like Hot Air ended up actually working for the progressive in the race. One by one cutting down any candidate that actually appeared to be willing to cut government. Bachmann first, then Perry, then Newt, twice!

Really, if you have not figured it out by now, I say it is due to willful ignorance. We have a choice between big massive government spender Obama who will not likely be able to finance the big government he wants or big massive government spender Romney, who has Ryan’s roadmap to indentured servitude for the next generation to pay for his big government. No real cuts, just a slightly better managed $3.6 trillion a year and growing government leviathan to feed our children’s future to.

There is no talk of getting our nation’s financing on firm ground, instead the talk is about making certain no one has to suffer today for our own failures and to hell with the future, we will be long dead by the time the final bill comes due!

I am done enabling those who want to spend the wealth of future Americans. Either put up someone who is willing to balance the budget, or I will work to give you politicians that cannot manage paying for your failures. Obama is a perfect example of one such man. Give me another Romney next election and I will react the same. The lesson is learned.

The only reason Palin supported Tarp was because of John McCain as his VP pick. on the other hand Ryan supported Tarp because he believed in it. just like Ryan’s budget plan was scuttled because it interfered with Romney’s position, Palin supported Tarp because of McCain.

idesign on August 27, 2012 at 6:50 PM

So Palin was willing to sacrifice her principles to placate the Republican leadership at the time for TARP when she was the VP nominee.

When pressure was exerted on her, she caved, and supported something she didn’t believe in.

As I see it, you are perfectly happy to let America fail. Our debt has increased $5 trillion under Obama. If he is re-elected, it will probably increase by $6 trillion more. Will it be easier to reduce our debt by $16 trillion in 8 years or $22 trillion in 4 years?
Romney will increase the deficit less than Obama and hopefully will start to reduce it. Obama doesn’t even have the brains to include the interest payments in his budget proposals. At lease Romney understands business and spreadsheets. There is no hope of addressing the deficit if Obama is re-elected. We haven’t even had a budget in 4 years.

talkingpoints on August 27, 2012 at 5:09 PM

The talk coming from team Romney indicates he is going to spend every single penny that Obama has. This is why the budget is going to be a trillion in the red for as far as the Ryan plan can see. Feel free to show me where he states he will bring the budget into balance by a date prior to say, 2022… Your argument fails right there. Romney will spend every single penny Obama would. Romney might even spend more, looking at his business track record, it seems to be get in cheap, borrow to the ceiling, spend spend spend, make it LOOK good, and bail.
I am sure we will get a budget though, and you think the Republicans will risk cutting anything? Even as the opposition party they were too scared to cut anything. The only thing they were able to cut were phantom spending that never happened and never was going to happen, to the tune of a couple million dollars. This with the wind at their backs fresh from a tea party smashing of election records!
If your only plan is to put the debt on future generations, then my response is to work to prevent you from succeeding.

Here lies Charlie O’Day
Who died maintaining his right-o-way.
In the right his will was strong,
But he’s just as dead as if he’d been wrong.

I read what you pharasees are blabbing. You will vote for obama. You will vote 3rd party. All because YOUR purest conservative favorite is not being nominated. You all nausiate me with your stupidity. I think I’m going to leave Hot Air for a while. You A..holes are not worth my time.

Ed, ban me if you like. I’ve been with you from the start at CQ, but Hot Air has changed into something very inane and distasteful.

So you romneycare supporters before you judge me for not voting for either liberal, ask yourselves why YOU support the above record
Danielvito on August 27, 2012 at 7:18 PM

because he has a “r” after his name and he’s not a Marxist – a moderate, but not a Marxist. Sad but true.

Love Sarah but it’s third party for me. If oboobi’s headed for an epic Bradley effect as I suspect, then a) Mittness will win a la Billy Jeff but with a weaken mandate due to the second wave of conservatives. B) If Oboobi wins, he’ll be practically a lame duck trying one EO after another against a stronger opposition . Perot forced leftist Billy Jeff to the center and likewise a strong third party showing will force Mittness to the center right. All depends if enough people opt not to stay home, nor hold their nose voting for Mittness but vote third party. If not, oh well, America gets the govt it deserves – but I know you can’t get there from here voting for the lesser of two evils when it’s still evil. And yes I still retain my right to criticize the aftermath. A right that is my God given right that you mittbotts are unable to squelch, no matter what. Ironically you do not have the “right” to complain if Mittness and the GOP betrays you next year due to your gullibility.

I read what you pharasees are blabbing. You will vote for obama. You will vote 3rd party. All because YOUR purest conservative favorite is not being nominated. You all nausiate me with your stupidity. I think I’m going to leave Hot Air for a while. You A..holes are not worth my time.

Ed, ban me if you like. I’ve been with you from the start at CQ, but Hot Air has changed into something very inane and distasteful.

Old Country Boy on August 27, 2012 at 10:12 PM

Yeah, I know the feeling. It changed into a progressive supporting gang of thugs that attack you for having the temerity to have principles you are willing to live by.

I for one say that putting your children down as collateral for your wasteful spending habits is something principally worthy of fighting against.

It’s great that you’re one of the more enthusiastic members of the Palin fan club and are also a loyal customer of the Palin brand. You pop up in all kinds of Palin-related threads all over the internet, always posting pointless little comments attacking anyone who doesn’t bow down to Palin. You also make excuses for her and end with the same junior high schoolish ” …. :-) ” after every comment. When we google “idesign” and “palin” it’s just interesting to see how many public results pop up. Now, you’re free to spend your time how you want, and I don’t know if there are other idesigns out there, but do you have any other interests that aren’t related to Palin?

It’s sad how self-proclaimed Palin fans like the Obama supporter danielvito and idesign are spitting in the face of Sarah Palin, who knows that we must defeat Obama by electing Mitt Romney, by lying about and attacking Mitt, by trying to encourage people not to vote at all or, worse, to vote for Obama. Some of these fake Palin fans give the REAL Palin fans (who know we MUST elect Romney and we must defeat Obama) a bad name and ought to continue to be shunned.

Yeah, I know the feeling. It changed into a progressive supporting gang of thugs that attack you for having the temerity to have principles you are willing to live by.

astonerii on August 27, 2012 at 11:36 PM

You are not too bright, are you? OldCountryBoy was talking about people like you, who would rather vote for Obama and let the country burn to the ground because of your purist crapola.

Here, let me help you, Obot.

I read what you pharasees are blabbing. You will vote for obama. You will vote 3rd party. All because YOUR purest conservative favorite is not being nominated. You all nausiate me with your stupidity. I think I’m going to leave Hot Air for a while. You A..holes are not worth my time.

I read what you pharasees are blabbing. You will vote for obama. You will vote 3rd party. All because YOUR purest conservative favorite is not being nominated. You all nausiate me with your stupidity. I think I’m going to leave Hot Air for a while. You A..holes are not worth my time.

Too bad, you don’t know an insult when you see one.
JPeterman on August 27, 2012 at 11:51 PM

No, they have reservations about that strategy, but they never personally attack her, which is all you do, No I imagine the shrillest denunciators now, actually did vote for Obama, while we held our nose and voted for McCain, because of not inspite of her.

Wow, disgusting. Seeing his crude, nasty joke insults related to Breitbart’s cause of death puts this guy Astonerii even lower in my estimation.

Astonerii seems mad because Andrew Breitbart, a good and decent man, wasn’t a bigot. Supporting Don’t Ask Don’t Tell or a traditional definition of marriage vs. same-sex marriage is one thing and is a legitimate area for debate; but when someone starts trashing people of particular sexual orientations and suggesting that gays or lesbians have no place in the party, then it’s totally unacceptable. We should have no tolerance for that kind of bigotry. Yes, debate the issues and stick to those things you believe, but the party should ALWAYS be welcome to everyone, regardless of sexual orientation, race, etc. I would like to see the comparatively irrelevant characteristics like race and sexual orientation deemphasized, anyway.

As always, Gov. Palin makes the clear and forthright statement which speaks for the greater majority of Americans. Most people understand that Romney isn’t a conservative, that he has held a wide range of “evolving” positions on issues, and that he isn’t a close adherent to the originalist read of the Constitution. And yet, none of that matters in the face of a storm of socialism which would be an Obama second term.

Voting for ABR helps the Marxist in the Oval Office. Pure and simple. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. Mitt Romney could never get me to vote for Mitt Romney. Barack Obama, he can get me to vote for Mitt Romney. (Thank you, Thomas Sowell for that gem)

Meanwhile, the Palin-haters assign to her a smorgasbord menu of behaviors which she has never exhibited in her entire public life. You say she hates Romney’s guts. She doesn’t hate anyone. Listen to her commentary again. She says about Obama, “No hard feelings…” This is the high road, something you Palin-haters couldn’t find with Mapquest. To presume that Gov. Palin hates anyone is the worst kind of projection.

Get over yourselves, and actually listen to what she says, instead of filtering through your own derangements. You’d be surprised.

Meanwhile, the Palin-haters assign to her a smorgasbord menu of behaviors which she has never exhibited in her entire public life.

Freelancer on August 28, 2012 at 2:55 AM

Freelancer, you’re guilty of the same things you accuse of. The fact that many people here are at times critical of Palin (and openly mock Palin’s groupie worshipers who think the woman is infallible) and don’t think she’s necessarily the best representative for conservatives or Republicans does NOT mean they hate her.

Palin never enters challenging interview situations (on tv or otherwise), and she has the luxury of saying whatever she wants from the sidelines and through her Facebook posts. She’s not governing and she’s not having to face the reality of running for national public office. On the other hand, Mitt Romney DOES have the courage and the capability to face the storm and continues to hang tough against his critics from both the right and the left. Romney accepted the challenge to run for president and serve his country, and debate after debate, and campaign appearance after appearance, etc. Romney has performed magnificently. When the going gets tough, Romney does NOT quit. Romney lives daily in the political REAL world, where what he says matters and where some kind of compromise or moderation is necessary, while Palin is in Palinland, free to sound off about whatever and whenever she wants. Yes, Palin performs a useful function and helps bring attention to lesser known conservative candidates, but she is NOT facing the same kind of scrutiny that Romney endures day and day in. Besides, we all saw how Palin handled the intense pressure back in 2008 during those first tv interviews when she gave it an admirable effort but came up lacking and sounded amateurish at times.

You say Palin speaks for a majority of Americans, but that’s not always true. At times, perhaps, but often she is trying to speak for the kinds of people who like to consider themselves “true” or uncompromising conservatives. The person who better represents MOST Republican voters is Mitt Romney, you know, the guy who actually won BY FAR the most primary votes. In contrast, how well did Palin’s endorsed candidate, Newt Gingrich, do?

So, you can spare me the unfavorable comparisons of Mitt to Palin. Mitt is an outstanding, uniquely qualified and experienced candidate in his own right, and we ought to feel very fortunate that he is our nominee this year, especially when the biggest issue is the economy. Here is a man who has very clearly laid out his positions in his book and over the last few years campaigning, time and again. We know it makes some of you feel above it all to go along with the trendy, “I’m such a true blue conservative that Romney isn’t conservative enough for me, and I’m letting you all know that so that you know how conservatively conservative I am, blah blah blah.” Just thought I’d let you know that it, as well as the non-stop Palin worship fro some people, is getting a little old.

Funny to see one of the PDS group now quasi-defending Gov Palin from some of her more disappointed supporters. Now that she has offerred semi-support for Mitt she has moved up in bluegill’s opinion.

Just because Palin said – “give him a shot- that doesn’t mean her base thinks any more highly of him. If Romney actually represented “most Republican voters” he wouldn’t still be struggling. Stop trying to pretend he is anything other than ABO for a lot of voters.

Just because Palin said – “give him a shot- that doesn’t mean her base thinks any more highly of him. If Romney actually represented “most Republican voters” he wouldn’t still be struggling.

katiejane on August 28, 2012 at 7:35 AM

You’re living in fantasyland. He’s not struggling. Not with independents (Romney has a lead among this group in several recent polls) and CERTAINLY not among Republicans, who are nearly all strongly backing Romney.

No, some of you people don’t want to admit that Romney is a strong candidate totally apart from people’s strong desire to get rid of Obama. You guys didn’t get your preferred candidate during the primary season, and now you sore losers want to act like the WINNER of the primary season doesn’t represent the voters who chose him. What a laugh. Apparently you like to parrot the Obama-supporting, left-wing media’s false notion that Romney was somehow a weak candidate. That was all a bunch of baloney. Besides, it’s a darn good thing that voters did choose Romney, because he always was (remains) far and away the one with the greatest chance of defeating Obama.

Palin is simply someone who feeds off conservative in-fighting. Romney is someone who battles every day in the REAL political world, outside of friendly confines, where sometimes political necessity requires less than absolutely pure ideological stances. Romney steps up to the plate and does the work of months and months of campaigning, fundraising, winning over voters, etc. … and he does it all with dignity and with great effectiveness. Palin is someone who calls the shots from the sides. Romney is no quitter. As much as I think Palin is an impressive figure with many talents, I doubt she could last even a single week as the nominee without some hugely embarrassing flub or display of incompetence. If Palin were out there she’d have to do more than her tiresome bash the so-called GOP establishment routine, which has become the lucrative little niche she has carved our for herself. And what would Palin do if she couldn’t rely on her favorite “bash the establishment boogeymen” shtick? She’d be as lost as she was when she struggled to name more than a single Supreme Court decision during the infamous 2008 CBS interview.

I’m sorry, but I won’t be forced to cast my vote for one of two people who will both continue to take our country down the same path that it has been on for too long.

You can hem and haw and say, “That’s just a vote for Obama”! But no, it’s not. There’s no way Barack Obama wins my state regardless.

And I will not put my credibility and integrity on the line for Mitt Romney by supporting him.

Nothing’s going to change. You watch. Nothing. Except we’ll be back to defending the actions again and the Democrats will be back to the unruly oppisition attempting to throw wrenches in the gears at every turn to make governing effectively impossible.

The teams will just switch sides, and the game will play on, never stop.

I like Sarah Palin, but I will not be cowed by the oldest argument on record to try to persuade people to divide and that you must choose a side. And now!

When the end result is the same no matter who you pick.

This is election is a moot point whatever happens. While terribly attempted and governed, nothing that the Obama administration has done has actually been that far out, radical, or beyond most of what has happened before. And nothing Mitt Romney is gonna do is gonna be that much different than exactly what came before him.

You’re so blinded by Obamahatred that you can’t even see that Romney isn’t any different. Why even bother to vote? So you get more defense spending this year? Then next election more welfare? Then back to the GOP for more intrusion into your freedom? Then more dem for stealing more of your money?

Nothing has changed. Dems win, more spending. GOP wins, more spending, but on different things. Another machine candidate, and more robots to pull the levers.

Oh, they’re not “blinded” by Obama hatred. It’s just that Obama hatred is just about the only thing that makes Romney look good. And I’d disagree on there being no difference between the two. Obama’s a .45 round to the head, while Romney’s a slow and steady diet of arsenic. Take your pick.

My point was never a Ryan vs Palin on TARP (they both supported it) it was that Palin is a hypocrite for presenting herself as some sort of pure conservative. If Ryan went around the country blasting “RINOs” and designating himself the “Tea Party Prince”, I’d be saying the same thing.

BradTank on August 27, 2012 at 6:28 PM

LOL…here’s someone who likes to build straw men by the squad, rather than individually.

You’re living in fantasyland. He’s not struggling. Not with independents (Romney has a lead among this group in several recent polls) and CERTAINLY not among Republicans, who are nearly all strongly backing Romney.

…..

bluegill on August 28, 2012 at 8:35 AM

It’s not much of a surprise that Romney would do well with Independents – that is who he is in spite of trying to pretend he supports/identifies with the Conservative base of the GOP. And that works for the GOP establishment because they have disdain for the Conservative base also.

I imagine many Conservatives figured they might have a chance of keeping Romney from going full bore RINO while they would have no chance with Obama. That hardly constitutes enthusiastic support. Many have decided that the fiscal issue overrides anything else.

You can try and convince yourself that many of the Republicans, who are nearly all strongly backing Romney. an’t actually ABO voters but I disagree. If Romney had been such a great candidate he wouldn’t have lost to McCain in 2008.

If Romney had been such a great candidate he wouldn’t have lost to McCain in 2008.

katiejane on August 28, 2012 at 9:57 AM

The media got McCain elected. He’s who the Dems wanted to run against for obvious reasons. They wanted to run against Santorum this time but it didn’t work out for them. Mitt’s the last guy they want to run against. They will lose.